PITTSBURGH JAZZ

From Blakey to Brown, Como to Costa, Eckstine to Eldridge, Galbraith to Garner, Harris to Hines, Horne to Hyman, Jamal to Jefferson, Kelly to Klook; Mancini to Marmarosa, May to Mitchell, Negri to Nestico, Parlanto Ponder, Reed to Ruther, Strayhorn to Sullivan, Turk to Turrentine, Wade to Williams… the forthcoming publication Treasury of Pittsburgh Jazz Connections by Dr. Nelson Harrison and Dr. Ralph Proctor, Jr. will document the legacy of one of the world’s greatest jazz capitals.

Do you want to know who Dizzy Gillespie idolized? Did you ever wonder who inspired Kenny Clarke and Art Blakey? Who was the pianist that mentored Monk, Bud Powell, Tad Dameron, Elmo Hope, Sarah Vaughan and Mel Torme? Who was Art Tatum’s idol and Nat Cole’s mentor? What musical quartet pioneered the concept adopted later by the Modern Jazz Quartet? Were you ever curious to know who taught saxophone to Stanley Turrentine or who taught piano to Ahmad Jamal? What community music school trained Robert McFerrin, Sr. for his history-making debut with the Metropolitan Opera? What virtually unknown pianist was a significant influence on young John Coltrane, Shirley Scott, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Timmons and Ray Bryant when he moved to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh in the 1940s? Would you be surprised to know that Erroll Garner attended classes at the Julliard School of Music in New York and was at the top of his class in writing and arranging proficiency?

Some answers can be gleaned from the postings on the Pittsburgh Jazz Network.

For almost 100 years the Pittsburgh region has been a metacenter of jazz originality that is second to no other in the history of jazz. One of the best kept secrets in jazz folklore, the Pittsburgh Jazz Legacy has heretofore remained mythical. We have dubbed it “the greatest story never told” since it has not been represented in writing before now in such a way as to be accessible to anyone seeking to know more about it. When it was happening, little did we know how priceless the memories would become when the times were gone.

Today jazz is still king in Pittsburgh, with events, performances and activities happening all the time. The Pittsburgh Jazz Network is dedicated to celebrating and showcasing the places, artists and fans that carry on the legacy of Pittsburgh's jazz heritage.

Hi, good morning and a howdy good day.
How was your slumber how was the rest.
Green red or blue ~I’m thinking of a number?
Wow look at the squirrel on the fence.
I pick red as my favorite color .
What ? The number, why its 4 of course.
Hay dad, I mean mom, sorry, can I fly if my arms go like this?
I would like over-easy they taste the best.
Boy I’m tired I could go back to… Continue

I wish I could visit my grandfather at the best time in his life, there when he took the alpha path. A simply gentle human harboring neither anger nor with wraith, dedicated of a man with two children and a doting wife.

I know these thoughts of grandeur has limits to its weave, thus I would give us twelve hours before he would leave. If I could only cut somehow through space, stand proudly next this men and his grace. A trip to visit the pillar that helped structure me this man,… Continue

A few years ago I wrote a letter called “*A Roll Call” Its premise was: A call to action for creative minds to not only record history but to also write our future. As it’s no big secret our Nation, as a whole, has slipped away from culture and fell into consumerism. We lost that balance that holds democratic civilizations afloat. Culture is as important to this world as is oil. Without creative minds we lay stagnate in our past accomplishments but mostly our mistakes. Without different… Continue

Bitterly chomping down to the bone, my god man, don’t you have pity? You horrible bastard, forsaken son of her majesty. She flung onto us you’re misery, through cosmetic actions your born, chaotically mixed with deviant precision; violence rapped in a northern storm. Joyous I wonder, are you full of glee? Does your raise of terror give you pleasure? Do these deeds please your mother?

On the twilight of the year you arrive with your silent death, little seen nor heard just your… Continue

At last, At last. At long last! Finally the people of this Great Nation are coming to bare wittiness to the unadulterated power we gave away to the few. Realizing this power has imposed a pain filled blow to the whole of our land. We have begun to awake, shaking off the drunken haziness like a bad dream that haunts our thoughts. The clear images of our selfishness have come to be realized. Now in this monumental storm we decide to fight and righteously so! We… Continue